JP2000197672A - Air mat device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an air mat device of such structure as avoids the generation of the bottoming of the buttocks of a patient even when the upper part of the air mat is raised. SOLUTION: The air mat device 1 is provided with an air mat 10 obtained by arranging a plurality of bag-state air cells 11 side by side, an air pump 13 for injecting air into each air cell of this air mat and a control part 14 controlling this air pump. A pressurizing mechanism 18 which operates by manual operation and controls the air pump to pressurize the air cells for a prescribed time with prescribed pressure is provided in the part 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air mat device which prevents pressure ulcers caused when a sick person or the like lays on the floor for a long period of time, and in particular, eliminates problems caused by bottoming during gudge-up.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, nursing and nursing care for bedridden patients at nursing and nursing care sites in facilities and hospitals has been increasing steadily with the aging of the population. In these care settings, patients are often subjected to sustained compressions for long periods of time and are at risk of pressure sores (bedsores). Various medical air mat devices have been developed for the purpose of preventing the occurrence of pressure ulcers or healing the pressure ulcers that have occurred. For example, about 20 bag-shaped air cells are arranged on a sheet, and air of an appropriate pressure is sent from an air pump to these air cells to suppress the contact pressure to the sleeping person's body to prevent pressure ulcers. Known is known.

In addition, an air cell forming an air mat is provided by:
When divided into a plurality of systems, for example, two or three systems, when one system air cell contracts, the other system air cells are controlled to expand, and changed into a wave shape in the length direction of the air mat, Some have tried to prevent pressure ulcers by preventing local pressure from continuing to concentrate on sleeping people. In any case, the air mat should have as low a contact pressure as possible on the body to prevent pressure ulcers. For this reason, the pressure of air sent into the air cell is usually set to a range where the contact pressure to the sacrum does not exceed 32 mmHg. I have.

[0004]

However, if the air pressure in the air cell is kept low in order to keep the contact pressure low, for example, when a patient eats, it is called "gage up" as shown in FIG. When the upper half 20a of the bed 20 on which the air mat 30 is laid is used while being inclined upward, the weight of the upper body of the patient A is concentrated on the lower part of the buttocks, and the air cell 30a of that part of the air mat 30 is strongly pressed. Is done. The air in the air cell 30a that is strongly pressed moves in the direction of another communicating air cell 30b, for example, the air cell 30b that corresponds to the back or the foot. A so-called bottoming occurs in contact with a member placed on the lower side. If such a state continues for a long time, for example, for several tens of minutes, the blood flow is inhibited, and the risk of pressure ulcer occurrence increases.

An object of the present invention is to provide an air mat device having a structure in which bottoming of a patient's buttocks does not occur even when the gag is raised.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention employs the following means. The air mat device according to claim 1, comprising: an air mat having a plurality of bag-shaped air cells arranged side by side; an air pump for injecting air into each air cell of the air mat; and a control unit for controlling the air pump. And a pressurizing mechanism which is manually operated and controls the air pump to pressurize the pressure in the air cell for a predetermined time for a predetermined time is provided in the control unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an air mat device according to the first aspect, wherein the air cells are divided into a plurality of groups to communicate with each other, and the rotary valve is driven by a stepping motor on an air supply path between the air pump and the air cells. , And a wave state in which expansion and contraction are alternately repeated at a predetermined cycle for each group is formed, and the predetermined pressurization is performed only for the air cell group in the expanded state.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the air mat device according to the second aspect, a solenoid valve is connected to the exhaust port side of the rotary valve, and each group remains inflated by operating the solenoid valve. It is configured to switch to a stationary state, and the predetermined pressurization is performed for all of the air cell groups.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the air mat device according to the second aspect, when each of the air cell groups is contracted by the rotation of the rotary valve, the rotation speed of the stepping motor is increased to reduce the exhaust time. Controlling the exhaust volume to be small by shortening it, each group is configured to switch to the stationary state while expanding, and the predetermined pressurization is performed for all of the air cell groups. I have.

[0010] An air mat device according to a fifth aspect is characterized in that, in the invention according to the second aspect, the predetermined cycle is configured to be manually adjustable.

Since the present invention is configured as described above, for example, in order to raise the patient's upper body at the time of a meal or the like, when the bed on which the air mat is spread is gagged up, it is necessary to manually operate the pressurizing mechanism. Then, air for pressurization is injected into the air cell from the air pump, and the air pressure in the air cell is pressurized by a predetermined value from a normal specified value. Therefore, the weight of the upper body of the patient is concentrated on the lower part of the buttocks by gagging up, and even if the air cell is strongly pressed, bottoming does not occur, and the risk of pressure ulcer occurrence can be reduced. Further, since the pressurizing time, that is, the time when the air mat is pressurized by a predetermined value from the normal state is set as the predetermined time, the predetermined time is reduced to about several tens of minutes, for example, assuming a meal time. If determined, the pressure of the air mat naturally returns to the normal value simply by returning the bed after eating, and mistakes such as forgetting to turn off the air mat can be prevented. In some cases, it is better to keep the patient awake at times other than the meal time, and the present invention can be applied to such a case.

Further, if the air cells are divided into a plurality of groups and the expansion and contraction are alternately repeated at a predetermined cycle for each group, and the pressurization is performed only for the group in the expanded state, the bottoming may occur. Instead, the air cells that come into strong contact with the body are alternately changed, so that the risk of pressure ulcer occurrence can be further reduced. In addition, since the repetition cycle of the expansion and contraction of each group can be adjusted, it is possible to reduce the risk of pressure ulcer occurrence or to make sleep mainly by adjusting the cycle.

By the way, in the case of the wave state of expanding and contracting as described above, when the bed is gudge-up,
It is not possible that there is no possibility that a part of the patient's buttocks will contact the air cell in a contracted state. In this case, bottoming may occur. Therefore, a solenoid valve is provided on the exhaust port side of the rotary valve, and by operating the solenoid valve, each air cell group is configured to be switched to a stationary state while being expanded, or the rotary valve is set to an exhaust state by rotation. For each air cell group, the rotation speed of the stepping motor at that position is increased, the evacuation time is made extremely short, the amount of evacuation is reduced, and each group is switched to the inflated stationary state. hand,
The above-mentioned problem is addressed by switching between the wave state and the stationary state by operating a switch.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an air mat device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a main operation according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the air mat device 1 includes an air mat 10 in which a plurality of air cells 12 formed in a substantially cylindrical bag shape on a base sheet 11 are arranged side by side, and air is fed into the air mat 10. An air pump (also referred to as a pump unit) 13 and a controller 15 having a control unit 14 for controlling the air pump 13 are provided. The air cell 12 is formed by laminating a high-polymerized polymer film on a flexible material such as a cloth, or a plastic film as it is, or a matte-finished surface of a plastic film, and injects and exhausts air into the inside. This makes it possible to expand and contract. Among these air cells 12 arranged side by side, the 1, 4, 7,... (3n-2) th air cells 12 a constitute an A group cell (A system cell) and communicate with each other. , ... (3n
The (-1) th air cell 12b constitutes a B group cell (B system cell), and the 3, 6, 9,... (3n) th air cell 12c constitutes a C group cell (C system cell). Also communicate with each other. Where n = 1, 2, 2,
3, 4, ....

From the controller 15, these air cells 12
There are three air transfer paths to the A group cell 12a, air is sent via the air transfer path 16a, the B group cell 12b is connected to the air transfer path 16b, and the C group cell 12
Air is supplied to c through an air transfer path 16c. As shown in FIG. 3, a rotary valve 50 driven by a stepping motor (pulse motor) 40 is housed in the controller 15. The rotary valve 50 is composed of a fixed lower rotary valve 60 and an upper rotary valve 70 which is disposed on the lower rotary valve 60 in close contact with the lower rotary valve 60 so as to be freely rotatable.
From the air cell 12 through the rotary valve 50 and further through the transfer paths 16a, 16b, 16c.
Sent to

The rotating shaft 41 of the stepping motor 40
Has a central hole 61 provided at the center of the lower rotary valve 60, and a central hole 71 provided at the central portion of the upper rotary valve 70. 80 is attached. The stopper 80 is fitted into a linear groove 72 provided on the upper surface of the upper rotary valve 70, and when the rotary shaft 41 of the stepping motor 40 rotates, the upper rotary valve 70 turns the upper surface of the lower rotary valve 60. It is designed to rotate with close contact.

Next, these rotary valves 50 will be further described. First, the lower rotary valve 60 will be described. The lower rotary valve 60 is configured as shown in FIG. FIG. 4A is a plan view, and FIG.
BB arrow view, (c) is a bottom view, (d) is D of (a)
FIG. As described above, the lower rotary valve 60 has the center hole 61 in the center, and has three nozzles 62 each having a through passage in the center on both sides of the side surface.
63, 64 and 65, 66, 67 are provided. As shown in FIG. 4A, a hole 62 'and a hole 63' are provided on the same innermost radius from the surface center.
The hole 62 'communicates with the through passage of the nozzle 62, and the hole 6'
3 'communicates with the through passage of the nozzle 63.

Three holes 65 ', 66', 67 'are provided on the same radius outside the positions of the holes 62', 63 'at a center angle of 120 °. The hole 65 'is a nozzle 65, and the hole 66' is a nozzle 66.
And the holes 67 'communicate with the nozzles 67, respectively. Further, a hole 64 ′ is provided outside the holes 65 ′, 66 ′, 67 ′, and communicates with the through passage of the nozzle 64.

As shown in FIG. 6, among these nozzles, a pressure sensor 90 is connected to the nozzle 62, and the air pump 13 is connected to the nozzle 63. Also,
The solenoid valve 100 is connected to the nozzle 64. When the solenoid valve 100 is not operated, the nozzle 64 is opened to the atmosphere as it is. When the solenoid valve 100 is operated, the exhaust of the air is stopped. Further, the A group cell 12a of the air cell 12 is connected to the nozzle 65 via the transfer path 16a.
6 has a B group cell 12b via a transfer path 16b,
The nozzle 67 is connected to the C group cell 1 via the transfer path 16c.
2c are respectively connected.

Next, the upper rotary valve 70 will be described with reference to FIG. (A) is a plan view, (b) is a bottom view, and (c) is a view taken along the line CC of (b). The upper rotary valve 70 has a center hole 71 in the center as shown in the figure, and a linear groove 7 with the center hole 71 interposed on the front side.
2 are provided. Further, a ring-shaped groove 73 is provided on the bottom side at a position slightly away from the center hole 71 to the outer periphery, and an arc-shaped groove (central angle 105
°) groove 74 is provided, and the groove 73 and the groove 74 are connected by a groove 75 provided in the radial direction.

An arc-shaped (central angle of 30 °) groove 76 is provided on the same radius as the groove 74, and a ring-shaped groove 77 is provided outside the groove 76. Are connected by a groove 78 provided in the radial direction. The upper rotary valve 70 is rotatably disposed in close contact with the fixedly installed lower rotary valve 60 as described above, and is driven by the stepping motor 40.

The operation of the rotary valve 50 (60, 70) will be described first.
4 is located at the hole 65 'of the lower rotary valve 60. The air sent from the air pump 13 is supplied to the nozzle 6
3 and the groove 73, 7 of the upper rotary valve through the hole 63 '.
5 and 74, and is fed into the A group cell 12a through the nozzle 65 from the hole 65 'of the lower rotary valve 60. The air pressure of the A group cell 12a is sensed by a pressure sensor 80 communicating through the hole 62 'of the lower rotary valve 60 and the nozzle 62. When the air pressure expands to a predetermined pressure, the control unit 14 Stop operation.

As the stepping motor 40 rotates, the upper rotary valve 70 rotates, the groove 74 moves to the holes 66 'and 67' of the lower rotary valve 60, and the other C and B group air cells also move. Inflates one after another. When the upper rotary valve 70 rotates, the groove 76 is inserted into the lower rotary valve 60.
At the position of the holes 65 ', 66', 67 'of the corresponding group cell, the air of the corresponding group cell is passed through the holes 6
5 ', 66', 67 'and the grooves 76, 78, 77 further communicate with the solenoid valve 100 through the hole 64' nozzle 64. If the solenoid valve 100 is not activated, the air escapes to the atmosphere and the corresponding group cell will then contract. As described above, in response to the rotation speed of the stepping motor 40, each of the group cells alternately expands and contracts alternately at a predetermined cycle, resulting in a wave state that changes into a wave shape in the length direction of the air mat 10 and locally. So that strong contact pressure does not concentrate on This state is called a wave state, and the predetermined period can be adjusted by switching a period changeover switch 17 disposed on the surface of the housing of the controller 15, and can be set and adjusted in a range of 2 minutes to 30 minutes. Can be.

The reason that the cycle can be adjusted in this way is that the shorter the cycle, the better the countermeasures against pressure ulcers, and the longer the cycle, the more likely to be a good night's sleep. This is what we get. For example, it is conceivable to adjust pressure ulcers by shortening the repetition time in the daytime and lengthening the sleep time in the nighttime.

The control unit 14 controls the air pump 13 to increase the pressure in the air cell for a predetermined time.
A pressurizing mechanism 18 for performing a predetermined pressurization is provided, and the pressurizing mechanism 18 is operated by manually operating a switch 18a disposed on the housing surface of the controller 15. The purpose of providing such a pressurizing mechanism 18 is that, when the upper half of the bed is used while being inclined upward, the weight of the patient's upper body is concentrated on the lower part of the buttocks, and the air cell in that part of the air mat is strongly. The pressed air cell is crushed, and bottoming occurs. If such a state continues for a long period of time, blood flow is obstructed and the risk of pressure ulcers increases, so that bottoming is prevented.

The operation of the pressure mechanism 18 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The air mat device 1 is operated, air is sent into the air cell 12, and the switch 18a provided on the surface of the housing of the controller 15 is turned on. At the same time when the switch is turned on, the pressurizing mechanism 18 operates, the timer starts (step (hereinafter simply referred to as S) 1), and a predetermined value is added to the normal set value of the pressure sensor 90.

The pressure sensor 90 detects the pressure in the air cell. Air is injected from the air pump until the pressure in the air cell reaches a set value. When the air pressure in the air cell reaches the set value, this is detected. A signal to stop the air pump 13 is sent to the control unit 14. Air cell 1
The normal air pressure of No. 2 is controlled depending on conditions such as the weight of the patient, but is generally set to a value such that the contact pressure between the air cell 12 and the body is about 10 to 20 mmHg. When the pressurizing mechanism 18 operates, the set value of the pressure sensor becomes 10% to 30% of the normal value.
Trying to get up

Since the set value of the pressure sensor becomes a value obtained by adding a predetermined value to a normal value (up by 30% to 50%), any one of the group cells (A, B, and C) in the inflated state is selected. Air for pressurization is injected into the (group) from the air pump 13 (S2). The pressurized state is monitored for a predetermined time set in advance, that is, about 30 minutes to 2 hours. When the pressure decreases, the pressure sensor 90 sends a signal for injecting air to the control unit 14, and the pressurized state is monitored. To maintain.

Next, in S3, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time by the timer setting started in S1 has elapsed.
When the predetermined time has elapsed, the air that has been injected into the air cell for pressurization is exhausted (S4), and the process ends. The predetermined time (30 minutes to 2 hours) can be set by setting a timer.

When the patient's upper body is to be raised for a long period of time, the switch 18a
And pressurizing mechanism 18 is operated to inject pressurizing air from air pump 13 into air cell 12 so that bottoming up of the patient's upper body that has been gudged up concentrates on the lower part of the buttocks. It does not need to occur, and the risk of pressure ulcers can be reduced.

In the above description, the reason why the solenoid valve 100 is connected to the nozzle 64 of the lower rotary valve 60 is that when the bed is gagged up in the wave state where the expansion and contraction are performed as described above. However, it cannot be said that there is no possibility that a part of the buttocks of the patient comes into contact with the contracted air cell.
In that case, that part may cause bottoming. Therefore, the solenoid valve 100 is connected to the nozzle 64 on the exhaust port side of the lower rotary valve 60, and the solenoid valve 100 is operated to stop the exhaust, so that each of the group cells remains in the expanded state. It is configured to switch to.

At the time of gudge-up, the solenoid valve 100 is operated and the pressurizing mechanism 18 is operated to bring all the air cells 12 into the inflated state (stationary state). Injecting pressurized air to prevent the gagged-up patient from bottoming.

Alternatively, the rotation speed of the stepping motor 40 at that position is increased by setting the rotation speed of the stepping motor 40 at the position corresponding to the group cell which is evacuated by the rotation of the rotary valve 50, so that the evacuated time is reduced to a small amount. Each of the groups may be configured to switch to a still state while being expanded. That is, the controller 14 controls the upper rotary valve 7
No groove 76 is provided in each of the holes 65 ′ and 6 of the lower rotary valve 60.
Only when passing over 6 'and 67', the rotation speed of the stepping motor 40 is increased so as to increase the speed, so that the passage time is shortened and the displacement is reduced. At the time of gudge-up, it can be used by switching to a stationary state by operating a switch.

In the above embodiment, the air mat 3
The example in which the air cells constituting 0 are divided into three groups of A, B, and C, and the expansion and contraction are repeated alternately has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of groups is not particularly limited. Alternatively, the present invention may be applied to one group in which expansion and contraction are not repeated. In that case, the solenoid valve 10
0 and the like become unnecessary.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By performing a manual operation, a pressurizing mechanism that can inject air for pressurization into the air mat is provided, so if you operate it when you gag up, the weight of the patient's upper body will be below the buttocks. Bottoming does not occur even when concentrated, and the risk of pressure ulcer occurrence can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an embodiment of an air mat device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a main operation of the air mat device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing a relationship between a rotary valve and a stepping motor.

FIG. 4 shows a lower rotary valve, (a) is a plan view,
(B) is a BB view of (a), (c) is a bottom view,
(D) is the DD arrow view of (a).

FIG. 5 shows an upper rotary valve, (a) is a plan view,
(B) is a bottom view, and (c) is a CC view of (b).

FIG. 6 is a connection diagram of a rotary valve and each member.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a problem when the air mat is gudge-uped.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air mat apparatus 10, 30 Air mat 11 Base sheet 12 Air cell 13 Air pump 14 Control part 15 Controller 16a Air transfer path to A group cell 16b Air transfer path to B group cell 16c Air transfer path to C group cell 17 Period change switch Reference Signs List 18 Pressurizing mechanism 18a Switch 20 Bed 40 Stepping motor 50 Rotary valve 60 Lower rotary valve 70 Upper rotary valve 90 Pressure sensor 100 Solenoid valve A Patient

Continuation of the front page F term (reference) 3B096 AA03 AB03 AD03 4C040 AA01 AA05 CC03 DD04 EE02 EE08

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An air mat device comprising: an air mat having a plurality of bag-shaped air cells arranged side by side; an air pump for injecting air into each air cell of the air mat; and a control unit for controlling the air pump. An air mat device, further comprising a pressurizing mechanism that is manually operated to control the air pump to pressurize the pressure in the air cell for a predetermined time for a predetermined time. 2. The air cells are divided into a plurality of groups and communicate with each other, and a rotary valve driven by a stepping motor is interposed in an air supply path between the air pump and the air cells. 2. The air mat device according to claim 1, wherein a wave state in which expansion and contraction are repeated is formed, and the predetermined pressurization is performed only for the air cell group in the expanded state. 3. An electromagnetic valve is connected to an exhaust port side of the rotary valve, and each group is switched to a stationary state while being expanded by operating the electromagnetic valve.
The air mat device according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined pressurization is performed for all of the air cell groups. 4. When each of the air cell groups is in a contracted state due to the rotation of the rotary valve, the rotation speed of the stepping motor is controlled to increase and the amount of exhaust gas becomes small, and each of the groups remains expanded. 3. The air mat device according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined pressure is applied to all the air cell groups. 4. 5. The air mat device according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined cycle is configured to be manually adjustable.